Most significant however was the emergence of a young Ernest Needham who made his United debut in the early part of the season and would go on to be one of the club's greatest ever players and ultimately captain England.

[1] United dropped the thin red vertical stripes that had been introduced the previous season, reverting to a plain white shirt along with blue shorts and socks.

[4] This season saw the introduction of a club crest (or badge) on the shirts for the first time, utilising a red heraldic shield emblazoned with three sheaves of wheat and a lions head, along with the letters SUFC.

[5] United continued with a sizable turnover of playing staff but were now focusing on using their financial position to target experienced professionals rather than relying on the untried talents of previous seasons.

[3] Bob Cain and Harry Hammond arrived in August, recruited from Bootle and Everton respectively,[6][7] while previous stalwarts like Edward Cross, Billy Bridgewater and W. Robertson were allowed to leave.

[8][9][10] A young Ernest Needham was promoted to the first team and began to feature regularly as the season progressed; he would eventually go on to make over 450 league appearances for the Blades and to captain England during his career.

The club continued to strengthen their attacking options by recruiting three additional forwards from Scotland; Sandy Wallace,[12] John Scott[13] and resigning former player James Duncan.

[14] William Calder and Harry Munro were both allowed to join Gainsborough Trinity,[6][15] before United resumed their league campaign with a 4–3 loss away at Newcastle West End who were struggling at the bottom of the table.

[1] The Wharncliffe Charity Cup garnered even less attention this season and United were given an automatic place in the final where they faced Attercliffe at the Olive Grove ground, beating them 2–0 at the end of March to win their second trophy in a month.

United began the programme well, gaining victories against emerging Woolwich Arsenal, and the established Notts County and Bolton Wanderers, in the early part of the season.

[1] It wasn't until February that United's form improved, beating Burnley and Everton twice in consecutive games, running out 5–0 victors over the Merseyside club at Bramall Lane.